


Spider Silk

by mendacium_dulce (lux_veritatis)



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: A dick who enjoys making things difficult for poor Harry, Battle of Hogwarts, Harry is a Martyr, M/M, No beta - we die like brave men, Trip Down the Memory Lane Gone Wrong, Well first of all he's a dick, and a Horcrux, how does Tom Riddle play into this?
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-29
Updated: 2019-10-29
Packaged: 2021-01-07 22:48:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,451
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21225512
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lux_veritatis/pseuds/mendacium_dulce
Summary: When Harry decides to look at his most precious memories for one last time before his sacrifice, he realizes that he isn't as alone as he should be.





	Spider Silk

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Rabenschnabel](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rabenschnabel/gifts).
  * In response to a prompt by [Rabenschnabel](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rabenschnabel/pseuds/Rabenschnabel) in the [October_Flash_Fest_Part_Two](https://archiveofourown.org/collections/October_Flash_Fest_Part_Two) collection. 

> **Prompt:**
> 
> Every time Harry watches a memory of his in a pensieve, he notices another strange boy standing in a corner somewhere, watching memory!Harry intently. 
> 
> Even if he was definitely, absolutely, alone during the moment that memory was made. 
> 
> One day, pensieve!Harry decides to talk to him. To his utter shock, the boy actually looks at him and smiles darkly. 
> 
> (You may decide whether it's the horcrux, diary!Tom or something even more sinister playing parasite in Harry's memories :>)

“_I am granting you one hour to settle your affairs,”_ Voldemort had told him after he had announced that it was his sacrifice that he demanded in exchange for the lives of those present at Hogwarts.

After Harry had said his goodbyes to Ron and Hermione, he hesitated, not knowing how he should spend the time remaining to him.

Suddenly, however, there was an instinct, a small voice at the back of his head, telling him to gaze at his memories for one last time. It was a voice growing more and more insistent, providing him with reasons as to why he should preserve the moments dear to him for those who would miss him, why he should leave behind proof that he had lived, that he had experienced joy, that he had loved.

He would leave behind tangible proof of how much he cherished his friends and loved ones instead of taking his memories to his grave, and when they felt lonely, all they would have to do was immerse themselves in his memories, and they would be enveloped by his love.

Only when he stood before the Pensieve in Dumbledore's office, however, did Harry understand the graveness of what he was about to do, and his heart rate picked up in speed as he extracted the first silver string from his mind and let it join the swirling mist inside the metal basin. He then relaxed slightly, finding that the action itself hadn't felt as impactful as he had initially assumed.

One by one, he removed more memories from his mind and gently placed them into the Pensieve, and gradually, his head felt much clearer, as though there now was more space for new memories to be stored, yet at the same time, there also was the strong feeling of loneliness, for the memories Harry had decided to leave behind were so precious he would never choose to live without them. Without his most precious memories, it felt as though his chest was being torn apart from the inside.

Looking at the watch the Weasleys had gifted him, he determined that there was still half an hour left before his inevitable sacrifice, a sacrifice that would vanquish the living nightmare that was Voldemort once and for all.

Deciding to be selfish for the last time in his life, he crossed the final distance between himself and the Pensieve and let himself succumb to the pull of his memories.

Suddenly, he was on the Hogwarts Express again, listening to Ron, who was excitedly tell him about his Chocolate Frog card collection, and watching himself look at his first Chocolate Frog card that depicted Dumbledore with fascination and joy. Their time on the Hogwarts Express had been the beginning of Harry's very first friendship, one that he would treasure until his last moment and beyond.

When he was just listening to his eleven-year-old self asking why Dumbledore had vanished from inside the card and waiting for Ron's nonchalant retort that Dumbledore couldn't be expected to remain inside the entire time, he felt the presence of another and wheeled around.

There, right in the corner of the compartment, was a figure shrouded in shadows. It was just standing there, seemingly watching Harry intently, but Harry felt violated, for the figure was not part of his memory, and he couldn't help but fear as though the memory was defective or had been tainted all along.

Quickly exiting the memory, Harry let himself be pulled into another one, this time, a memory of the aftermath of the troll attack. Harry, Ron, and Hermione had been sitting in the Gryffindor Common Room then, and Hermione had been helping the two boys with their homework.

“_I won't tell you the solution,”_ she had clarified right away. _“__But I'll give you tips how you can find it on your own.”_

When Ron groaned, she immediately snapped, _“__Don't you want to pass your exams? They are not going to ask the same questions, you know? Only similar ones – _if_they're being generous. If you don't know anything about about Transfiguration, then how are you supposed to deal with that?”_

“_You know, Hermione's got a point,” _eleven-year-old Harry chimed in, and Ron sighed.

_“_ _Yeah. I know, mate. It's just... why can't Transfiguration be easier?”_

As the three of them resumed working on their essays, there was a cozy, comfortable silence only interrupted by the occasional question and Hermione's explanations. It was a feeling Harry had come to associate with his best friends over the years he had had the privilege to spend with them. Being with Ron and Hermione meant safety, being with Ron and Hermione meant warmth. As long as they were at his side, any place could become home.

And yet, there was a coldness creeping up his spine, and Harry wheeled around, facing the shrouded figure in the corner of the Common Room, who was watching him again. Had the shadow been there all along, only visible to Harry now that he knew what he was? He couldn't possibly leave a memory like that behind, no matter how peaceful, how serene it was, for it didn't matter whether Ron and Hermione could see the shadow, when it could potentially harm them.

More than anything, he needed to test his theory, watch a memory in which he was all by himself, and if he was right about his theory, he needed to destroy the memories he had intended to leave behind, prevent them from becoming an anchor for something horrible.

When he entered his first memory involving the Mirror of Erised, he was already expecting the shrouded figure to peer at him, and once again, Harry turned around, facing the figure directly.

“Reveal yourself,” he demanded, and his green eyes were bright and piercing, as though they were able to dispel the shadows that concealed the figure with their intensity alone.

Gradually, the shadows retracted, revealing a pair of lips curved up in a soft smile and a sharp jawline, before finally, Tom Riddle himself stepped out of the shadows, his eyes red and gleaming with something unreadable.

“It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance at last, Harry,” Tom Riddle – the Horcrux inside him – said, and his voice was melodious and charming. “I almost thought you'd have walked to our mutual death without conversing with me even once.”

“I should've done just that,” Harry retorted. “Destroyed you once and for all without giving you a single chance to speak. Or taint my memories.”

“Taint your memories? Truly, you offend me. I was merely looking at them for the last time as well. Trying to understand why you would choose death over a life with your friends.”

It was then that Tom Riddle approached Harry with slow, measured steps and placed a firm hand on his shoulder.

“Don't you want give it some more thought? Think about just what it is you're about to throw away? About the ones you intend to leave behind?”

“If that's your way of begging for your life, it's not working,” Harry deadpanned, not impressed by Tom Riddle's attempt at manipulating him. “I've already talked to Ron and Hermione, and they understand there's no other way. In exactly thirteen minutes, I'll be entering the Forbidden Forest, and we're both going to die there. If you're trying to cling to those memories to save your own arse, I'll be destroying those, too.”

“In that, you are wrong, Harry. You see, it is not _myself_ I have been anchoring to those memories.”

At the sinister implications of those words, Harry quickly looked down at himself and froze. His entire body was wrapped in strings of memories that in this number looked like the finest threads of spider silk, yet when he attempted to lift his arm, he immediately found that he couldn't move an inch. Dread settled heavily in his stomach as he struggled and squirmed – to no avail.

“Bound by your most precious memories...” Tom Riddle murmured in Harry's ear, causing him to freeze then shiver. “Isn't it poetic?”

“Release me at once!”

“How determined, how feisty,” Tom Riddle tut-tutted before cupping Harry's cheek. “Rest assured, my soul. I shall negotiate with him in your place, convince him that there is no reason for bloodshed and conflict. _Relax_, and enjoy your happiest memory while I'm gone.”

And then, Tom Riddle disappeared, vanishing into thin air like the shadows that had enveloped him before, leaving Harry to gaze at his younger self standing before the Mirror of Erised and gazing at his parents for the very first time.

Never before had Harry abhorred the sight of his parents smiling at him to this extent.

**Author's Note:**

> I'm sorry for taking so many liberties with your prompt; I really hope you enjoyed regardless :)


End file.
